When the Minority Rules: When and How Do Traditionally Underrepresented Leaders Impact Employees?

Abstract

Scholars and practitioners have held great interest in how workforce diversity and inclusion relates to organizational outcomes. Similarly, much attention has focused on the inclusion of cultural minorities and women through the ranks of leadership and the effects of leadership team diversity on organization-level outcomes. We extend this work, exploring the effects of having traditionally underrepresented senior leaders on individual employee perceptions and engagement. We propose that organizations with a climate for innovation and flexibility are likely to see positive impacts from having a traditionally underrepresented individual as a senior leader, particularly when faced with environmental turbulence. Drawing on data from a large-scale study of Australian leadership, we tested our hypotheses with hierarchical linear modelling (HLM). Results suggest that promoting an innovative and flexible work climate has a number of positive benefits in general, and particularly when cultural minorities are leading their workplaces in turbulent environments. However, we observed some unexpected patterns when examining workplaces with female senior leaders.